Looks like that the Sharps customer want to secure supply and invest for that. A short term solution for the customers, but what when others sources become available and they try to sell the shares bought?

"But that begs another question. Where is Sharp’s future if its best work is producing 20th-century LCD technology?"
I guess this deal is more about Sharp's IGZO backplane tech. That's not 20th century stuff.
Since Apple made a deal with Sharp for the IGZO panels, Samsung gotta have it :)